Towards understanding the dynamic tensions between creativity and control in an information technology financial services company.

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Abstract

This study explores the reasons behind why EasyPay, a financial services
Information Technology company, has not been able to balance the need to
innovate its service offering with the pressure to stabilise its service and maintain
revenue growth. Despite its good financial performance, service delivery issues
had hampered the company for a long period of time. Poor customer service
continued to restrict growth and put the company's long-term survival at risk. The
researcher believes that the understanding this research has provided will put
management in a position to formulate a more effective strategy to take the
company from its current reality to its future vision.
There was an overwhelming amount of information available in the form of
events, patterns, issues and opinions. This information had to be organised and
understood. The theory was built from the ground up and derived directly from
the evidence collected. The research was iterative in nature and, as such,
yielded questions along the way, and this guided the review of the literature.
There was first a need to develop a systemic appreciation of the dynamics of the
situation before deciding on what strategic management plan to suggest that
would balance the pressures on the business and satisfy customer needs. This
study therefore focused on developing an appreciation of the situation. Systems
thinking theory was used in developing this appreciation, as it provided a
language for describing and understanding the forces and interrelationships that
shaped the behaviour of the system in EasyPay.
When the system had been grasped the researcher went back and revisited the
events and patterns, and used the derived systemic model to explain more
clearly what happened in the company. The researcher discusses the mental
models that he became aware of, in the course of the study, that were in part
responsible for the existence of the system in EasyPay. Finally the researcher
suggests some recommended actions and highlights areas that he believes
require attention.